The present invention relates to electro-optical switching devices making it possible to connect input photoemitter members to output photoreceiver members by optical links, which can be modified under the action of external electric control signals. The use of these signals in telephone switching makes it possible to obtain a telephone exchange in which the association of subscriber lines takes place without movable electric contact.
Numerous electrooptical switching devices have already been produced. It is in particular known to use an input circuit matrix supplying parallel beams and which is optically connected to an output circuit matrix via a matrix of holograms written into a photosensitive medium such as manganese bismuth. The transmission to a circuit of the output matrix takes place during the holographic reading by the incident beam from the corresponding photoemitter circuit. A prior holographic writing has taken place by interference between the incident beam and a second beam. This second beam, due to its orientation obtained by deflection, makes it possible to choose the photoreceiver circuit in the matrix of output circuits.